


The Chance

by darknessvisible



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Awkward Romance, Banter, Cabin Fic, Coworkers - Freeform, Cuddling & Snuggling, Cute Ending, Falling In Love, Fluff, Happy Ending, Snowed In, THERE’S ONLY ONE BED, Valentine's Day Fluff, Virgin Ben Solo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-13
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-12 21:35:25
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29391330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darknessvisible/pseuds/darknessvisible
Summary: When Rey and Ben, long time co-workers who have never been able to admit their feelings to each other, go on a weekend retreat to work on a movie adaptation script together, a Nor’easter leaves them snowed in. On Valentine’s Day.
Relationships: Rey & Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo
Comments: 11
Kudos: 35
Collections: To Find Your Kiss: The Reylo Fanfiction Anthology's Valentine's Day Exchange





	The Chance

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Crysania](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crysania/gifts).



> This was a joy to write. It came at a time when I really needed it, and I can only hope that it makes you smile <3

“Is there anything else?” 

Maz Kanata, the boss of Ben Solo and Rey Johnson, stared back at the two with her usual expectant face. 

Ben held up the set of keys she gave him. “No, I think that’s it. Unless, of course,” he turned to Rey, briefly making eye contact with her, “you had any more questions?” 

Rey watched him curiously, taking note of his demeanor as she had begun to do ever since they started working in the same writing room six months ago. He was peculiar at times, barely glancing her way even when they were the last two writers left in the room.

And now, they were about to spend an entire weekend together on — what was it Maz called it? — a _setting the mood_ writer’s retreat. The two of them had been contracted to write the Netflix script adaptation for the best-selling novel, _Two That Are One_. News of their hiring had exploded, with twitter at the helm of what had now become the #Reylo fandom. Everyone was excited to see what they would come up with, especially after the work they’d done together on a few previous series. 

But with attention came pressure. And Ben Solo was feeling the pressure as he tried to look anywhere but directly at Rey. His colleague. His long time crush. Two things that absolutely should never be mixed with a weekend retreat at a cabin in the middle of New Hampshire’s breath-taking woods.

“I’m good. Let’s go, then.” Rey smiled at him. 

—————————————————————————————————————

The Uber pulled up to the cabin slowly. It was certainly modern, given its title. The outside was made mostly of brick, with the exception of a wooden wraparound deck that was a dark mahogany. Small piles of snow stood out against the color, and the ground crunched under the tires. 

“Here you are.” The driver, whose name was Miles according to the app on Ben’s phone, grinned at them from the rear view mirror. 

Ben cleared his throat. “Thanks.” 

“Romantic.” Miles nodded at the cabin. “A great getaway for Valentine’s Day.” 

Rey was already halfway out of the car. Ben’s face turned slightly red, registering what Miles had said. The Solos were an organized family, but that was mostly due to Leia. When left to his own devices, Ben was very bad at remembering certain things. Like, for example, the single holiday of the entire year that was dedicated to crushes. 

Rey popped her head back in the car, waving Ben outside. “This place is _amazing_.” 

Miles helped them unload the two small carry-on luggages from the trunk, and with a final, somewhat suggestive wave, he left the two of them alone in the forest. The afternoon sun was streaming in through the trees around them. 

Reaching into her bag, Rey pulled out a mason jar that appeared to be full of coffee with… “Ice?” Ben gawked. “It’s 25 degrees outside!”

“Your point?” Rey smirked, unscrewing the lid and taking a generous sip. She now had a bit of foam around her lips, which Ben tried his best not to look at, lest his face turn red. “I’m from Boston. Is there any other way to drink coffee?”

“Enjoy the frostbite, then,” He shook his head, taking both of their bags inside. 

The cabin’s interior was less modern, but it had charm. It was all one giant room, with a tiny kitchen to the left with a red kettle already on the stove, inviting and well loved. The windows were covered by a soft red and black fabric which matched the bedsheets. There was even a tiny furnace in the center of the cabin that could double as a fireplace to cozy up to. 

Not that any cozying would happen, Ben told himself. This was strictly business, after all. 

But Rey, who had just entered behind Ben, didn’t hide her excitement. She pointed at the furnace, “Wow, could Maz be any more obvious? There’s literally a chapter in _Two That Are One_ where they make out next to a red furnace.” 

Ben cleared his throat, desperate to get the image of Rey curled up next to the furnace, her hair falling around her shoulders, out of his mind as soon as possible. “Did you bring the groceries?” 

“Oh!” Rey grinned. “Yes. Don’t worry. I got us the essentials and _then_ some.” She placed her bag down and went for one of the suitcases, removing a medium sized cooler from it. Unzipping it slowly, she turned it towards him and pulled back the flap, “Ta-da!” 

Ben stared blankly at what was before him. “Are those… freezer pizzas?” 

Rey looked hurt by his lack of excitement. “ _And_ eggs!”

Sighing, Ben tried to conceal a smile, committing to look annoyed. “I suppose I’ll have to just get creative with the eggs, then.”

“Oh yeah?” Rey wiggled her eyebrows. “Are you used to getting creative with eggs?” 

The comment turned his ears red, even though it technically didn’t even make sense. Her tone, however, did; it was clearly some sort of sexual innuendo and he would rather stick his head in the furnace than admit to being too stupid—or worse, inexperienced—to understand. 

So instead he laughed. Very loudly.

Rey looked puzzled. “Wow, wasn’t expecting my terrible joke to get such fanfare. It didn’t even make sense.”

“Anyways,” Ben changed the subject, feeling his hands getting clammy, “I think we should establish some ground rules.” 

“Sheesh, it was just a joke, Solo. I’m not going to try to make babies with you this weekend.” 

“What?” He felt suddenly dizzy.

“What ground rules?” Rey took her coat off and started unpacking her things, avoiding eye contact with him. Which Ben was grateful for as he composed himself. 

“For starters, no social media.” 

“Are you serious?” Rey pouted. “But I had a whole thing planned for that. I was going to live tweet our cabin experience. Pretend we’re being chased by a serial killer.” She mimed someone stabbing her, making an angry face. “Our harrowing escape from the clutches of…. John. John the Axe Guy.” 

“John the Axe Guy.” Ben repeated slowly. “That’s terrible writing. He needs a back story. And probably a better name.” 

“I thought you said we weren’t going to post on social media. Now you want to insult the character I took time to create.” 

Ben found himself too distracted by the hand she’d just placed on her hip to respond properly. She always did that when she knew he was on the verge of laughing at one of her bits. He tried often not to give her the pleasure but it was hard when she did things that were so… 

“Cute.” He flashed a cheeky grin. “Do whatever you want on social media but I’m not getting involved. I don’t even understand all that… Reylo stuff. What does Reylo even mean?” 

“Rey and Ben Solo.” She gestured in the air as if she’d just added two ingredients together into a soup. “Reylo.”

“Why is my last name in there? Why am I a firsty lasty?” 

“Because Reylo sounds better than….I don’t know…. Rebejohnlo.”

Ben had to try really hard this time to not laugh. “Fine.”

“I’m going to get set up over there.” Rey waved in the direction of the wooden table that sat up against the window, opposite the bed. 

_The bed. There’s only one bed_. Ben swallowed slowly, unsure of how to process this information without exploding. 

Rey didn’t seem to notice. She busied herself with taking out her work laptop and a marked up copy of the book, laying them all out on the table. Ben followed suit, trying not to look over at the bed and telling himself that would be a for-later problem. 

The cabin slanted downwards in the corner where the table was, creating a narrow ceiling that Ben had to duck under before being able to comfortably sit. Rey watched him as he did so, and once Ben got situated he heard a little _click_. Looking up, he saw Rey guiltily holding her cell phone camera pointed at him. 

“Did you just take a picture of me?” His face flushed, feeling embarrassed by his height. 

“No.” Rey stared at him unblinking for what felt like a long period of time. “Yes.” 

Then, she added, “Sorry. It’s for twitter.” 

“Whatever,” Ben looked away, hoping she didn’t catch how red his ears probably were right now. Something that had happened to him ever since he was a child whenever he felt… exposed. Awkward. Vulnerable. None of the things he wanted to feel right now when they were alone together with nowhere for him to disappear to in order to count down from five hundred or use some of those deep breathing skills a therapist told him about years ago. 

Well, it wasn’t a therapist. It was a drunk man on the T. But it felt like therapy.

They got into a rhythm after a while, sharing notes and talking through the opening and closing scenes. It helped that they had similar approaches to carving up a story — the beats and bows, the crescendos. It was easy work, once they got into it. 

After a few hours, Ben leaned back in his chair to yawn, bumping his head into the low ceiling. “Ow!”

Rey looked up from her laptop, snorting. “How does it feel to be absolutely massive compared to the average human being?” 

He flicked his pen at her. “Sorry, what was that? I couldn’t hear you from all the way up here.”

She giggled. No return jab after, which was surprising. Ben found himself feeling very special. He smiled, returning to the page in front of him where he’d been jotting down some notes. 

A few minutes later, Rey announced. “It looks like there’s a Nor’easter coming our way.” Her phone screen seemed to be buzzing with incoming messages. 

“Why didn’t we know that before?” Ben asked, thinking about the freezer pizzas and picturing the two of them eating twigs to stay alive. 

“Well, I knew that. I just… you know, didn’t think it would _actually_ snow that much. That’s the rule — when the weather people freak out, you stay calm. When they say it’s only a few inches, you prepare for the apocalypse.” Rey nodded sagely. 

“What are these arbitrary rules you keep making up?” 

“They’re _not_ arbitrary. Look, just because you’re not from Boston—“ 

“A fact I am very proud of right now.” Ben found his pen again so he could flick it at her once more.

Before he could, she snatched it out of his hand and used it to point to the window, “you’ll see, there’s nothing…. _Oh_.” Their eyes followed at the same time, both seeing the surprising amount of fresh snow that had piled up outside. “I’m sure it’ll melt in a few hours.” Rey laughed nervously. 

Unconvinced, Ben eyed the snow warily and patted the back of his head, where he noticed a tiny bump had formed. “I hope you’re right. I’m going to go make a freezer pizza.”

—————————————————————————————————————

They worked for a few hours more after dinner, but by 10pm the creative energy had dwindled and it was clearly time for bed. 

Rey stood up from the table first. “I think I’m ready to sleep.” She yawned. 

“Yeah, good idea.” Ben replied absently, finishing up his thought before putting his pen down. Suddenly, he recalled the for-later problem. “Uh… there’s only one bed.” 

She didn’t reply immediately. Instead, she seemed to be staring at him intently, and it made him very self conscious. Was there pizza sauce on his face or something? “What is it?” He reflexively put a hand up to his chin, wiping it and thankfully finding no residue on his hands. 

“Right.” Rey looked at the bed. 

Desperate for the awkwardness to end, Ben blurted out, “I’ll sleep on the couch.” It was the first thing that came to mind. 

She finally looked back at him, head slightly tilted. “What couch?”

“Oh, uh…” He frantically surveyed the cabin and determined that there was in fact no couch. A ghost couch. A couch whose absence was clearly meant to taunt every person who ever stood in Ben Solo’s position before. And then, like a beacon in the night, Ben saw something squished up against the wall by the door. A futon. 

“That couch!” He shouted, pointing at it with a little too much enthusiasm.

“Okay.” Rey closed her laptop. “Have fun.” She went over to her suitcase and gathered a few things, making quite a bit of noise. 

He watched her mill about for a little longer until he, too, finally started getting ready for bed. She changed in the bathroom, which he was grateful for because he wasn’t ready to handle _that,_ and didn’t say another word to him the rest of the night. Ben fell asleep staring at the ceiling, trying to get comfortable as his body was obviously way too long for the tiny, lumpy futon, wondering if he’d done something to upset her.

—————————————————————————————————————

Rey was already awake by the time Ben woke up. His entire body was sore from the stupid futon, but he tried his best not to make it obvious as he stood up, stretching. 

“Good morning.” Rey regarded him in between bites of a hard boiled egg. “I made food. Help yourself.” She walked over to their work table and started without another word. Her shoulders were scrunched up — a posture he hadn’t seen before. 

“Good morning to you.” He cleared his throat, standing up slowly. “You seem tense.” He laughed, meaning to poke light fun. 

But Rey didn’t turn around to make a face at him, or fire back any quips. She just kept typing away. 

“Alright then.” He sighed, grabbing a plate and a few hard boiled eggs. 

They ate in silence. At some point Ben even tried throwing his pen at her again but she didn’t move or acknowledge him. After a while, he asked, “Is everything okay?” 

“We’re completely snowed in.” Rey spoke matter-of-factly. 

Ben looked outside, shocked to see the snow had piled up almost to the windowsill, continuing to come down. “Shit. Do we have enough supplies?”

“I don’t know.” Her reply was barely audible. 

“Why aren’t you more concerned about this?” He waved at the window. 

No response. 

“Rey.” He waved in front of her face instead. “Earth to Rey.” 

“What?” She snapped. “I said I don’t know. We can’t leave, obviously.” 

Confident that they would starve without more than freezer pizzas to hold them over, Ben sat down and racked his brain for a solution. He bumped his head on the low ceiling again. “Ouch!” He sulked, holding a hand to the spot that was now sore. “Well, can’t you just, I don’t know, tweet about our predicament? Ask for one of those — what are they called, stans? — to bring us something?” 

Rey looked at him like he had three heads. “You want me to ask strangers on the internet to come to a secluded cabin where we are essentially trapped? Do you want to get murdered?” 

Ben sulked more. “You’re the one who wanted to live tweet a fake murder so what’s the difference?” 

“I think there’s a _huge_ difference.” She put her phone in her pocket. 

“Hang on,” Ben felt a realization coming on. “Are you trying to change the subject? Is there something you’re not telling me?” He paused for her reply but when none came he pressed on. “Have you been tweeting?”

“Well…” Rey squinted at him, seemingly trying to piece something together in her mind — an excuse, perhaps, or a witty retort — alas: “no.” 

“Then why did you take that picture of me yesterday?” 

“I think we should be spending less time asking unnecessary questions and more time trying to do our _jobs_ , You know, the entire _reason_ we came here on the worst day of the entire year.”

“What’s wrong with today?”

“Nothing. Nevermind. Let’s just stick to work, okay?” 

He watched her laser in on the screen, her eyes a bit glassy. The exhaustion he felt from poor sleep coupled with the soreness all over his body made him feel entitled to a little bit more of an explanation than that. 

“No.” He frowned. “What’s wrong with today? Am I really so horrible to be around that you’re willing to declare this the single worst day of the year?” 

Rey’s eyes flicked up from the computer screen. “This has nothing to do with you.” 

Suddenly Ben remembered their Uber driver, Miles, saying _A great getaway for Valentine’s Day,_ and he felt very silly. 

“Oh, it’s… oh. Yeah.” He gave her a sheepish look. “Not about me. Got it. So, why do you hate Valentine’s Day so much?”

A long pause. Finally, “Not that it’s any of your _business_ , but… I was dumped last year on Valentine’s Day and I’m not exactly the biggest fan of being reminded that this world is cold and empty and love is a manufactured product we buy and sell all while pretending like it’s some magical force that works in mysterious ways. There’s nothing mysterious about marketing.” She gave a derisive laugh. 

Waiting for her to finish, Ben mouthed ‘wow’. Once he was certain she was done, he spoke. “That’s a pretty bad faith estimation of love but okay.” 

“Bad faith?” Rey looked genuinely upset now. She closed her laptop. “You only say that because you’ve never been heartbroken, _Solo_.” 

He stood up, almost forgetting to crouch to avoid hitting his head, and moved over to sit next to her. When she wouldn’t scoot to make room, he gently lifted her and moved her over one seat so he could join. 

“First of all, you’re right. I’ve never been heartbroken. But I do know a thing or two about love, okay?” He squished himself into the tiny space she’d afforded him, his knees spilling onto his chest as he tried not to bump into her but it was inevitable. “For example I know that love is the entire point.” 

“Entire point of what?” She was still upset, chewing her bottom lip as she often did when someone made a suggestion she didn’t like in the writer’s room, but her eyes were fixed on him curiously. 

“Of life. It’s literally the only good reason to be…you know… conscious.” 

“Well that’s dark, Ben.” 

“That’s not what I meant. It’s just…love is—“

“What makes the world go ‘round?” Rey rolled her eyes. 

“No, no no… well, yes, but no. Hang on.” He gave her a pleading look, gesturing at his cramped position, and Rey begrudgingly scooted over some more so he could finally properly sit. “Thank you.” He sighed. “Anyway, what I mean is this… Love is a verb. It takes skills, it’s not just something that pops up out of the ground and grows on its own. Sure, sometimes love grows easier between certain people but it’s still an action. One you have to take every day. One you mess up a lot. One you can mess up without meaning to. But that’s the beauty of love, because the next day you can make new choices. Things never have to stay messed up. Love is the chance. And, you know, without chances, life is kind of… pointless.”

Rey had stopped chewing on her bottom lip. She was looking at him intently, her face on the verge of something, but it was obscured just enough. Ben felt suddenly exposed. He wanted to know what she thought of what he said. If she felt any differently. The silence was killing him, so he added. “You only think that way because _all_ you know is heartbreak.” _And I want to show you the other side of it_ , he thought to himself. 

She stood abruptly, her eyes very clearly welling up. But her face was pulled into a scowl. “I don’t want to talk about this anymore.” Leaving him sitting there in a stupor, she marched over to the bed and climbed in, throwing the covers over her head. After some time, Ben could hear gentle snoring. _Damn,_ he thought to himself, _I blew it._

—————————————————————————————————————

Ben was surprised to discover that Rey was a heavy sleeper. Which worked to his advantage in this case, because he didn’t want her to wake up too soon, lest she see his plan before it was ready. Just as he put the finishing touches to the table, he heard her stirring. Rushing over to the bed, he caught her just before she pulled the covers off. 

“No no no wait!” He shouted. 

“Ahhhhh!” Rey shouted back. “You scared the _shit_ out of me. What is going on?” 

“Close your eyes.”

“Are you going to axe murder me?” Rey deadpanned. 

“I will if you don’t close your eyes.” Ben tried to sound stern, but his smile was as wide as the horizon. 

Obliging, Rey placed a hand over her eyes. “Alright, I’m going to lift the covers now. I’m not looking.” 

He stepped back, waiting for her to sit up. “Okay. Now open them.”

“What is going…” Rey carefully peeled her hand from her face, gasping when she saw what all the fuss was about. 

The table was covered in napkins that had been folded into different shapes — some of them obvious, like a boat, and some of them less obvious and more like blobs or crumpled things that used to be shapes. In the center there was a freezer pizza, but the edges had been trimmed in the shape of a heart. 

“Rey Johnson.” He sounded very serious. “Will you be my Valentine?” 

Rey’s face drained of its color. She awkwardly climbed out of bed, wandering over to the table and taking stock of each thing with intense wonder. “Are… are you sure?” She turned to him, her hair a bit matted from sleeping on it. 

Ben smiled, forgetting how sore he felt all over. “Yes, I’m sure.” And then, embarrassment bubbling, he quickly added, “Obviously just as friends. Friends. Like, palentine.” 

“Oh.” Rey’s face fell. “Right. Palentine.” She gently tapped his shoulder with her knuckle. “With a heart shaped pizza.” 

Unsure of what to do with his hands, which were always large but in this moment felt especially bumbling and oversized, Ben patted his shirt and then the back of his neck and then the table. “I just want to show you that today can be nice. Feeling noticed and appreciated can be nice.” 

Rey’s face filled entirely up with her smile. It radiated warmth all the way to the table where Ben was standing. “Please tell me you at least saved the parts of the pizza you cut off.” 

He laughed. “Nope. It went straight into the trash.” 

Rey made a strangled noise. 

“You’re lucky I didn’t throw the entire thing in the trash to begin with.” He pointed accusingly at the pizza. “This is _not_ edible. It’s… it’s chaos, frankly.” 

A tiny, mischievous look took over her face. She inched towards the pizza. “Oh, so you’re saying you definitely wouldn’t want to eat it. And, even more than that, you definitely _definitely_ wouldn’t want to peel the pizza off the walls if, I don’t know, it somehow ended up on there.” 

Ben stepped in front of the pizza, defending it. “Stop it. You are not a cat.” 

She frowned. “I accept that.”

Next to the napkin decorations there was a rather beat up looking board game, the cardboard peeling on the sides. 

Taking notice of Rey’s attention to it, Ben said, “I found it in the cabinet under the sink, so there’s no guaranteeing we won’t get mold poisoning.” 

“Yum.” Rey giggled. She immediately started opening the box, picking up each item and inspecting it. “It’s a 3 player game.”

“Well then I guess we better hope John the Axe Guy shows up.” 

“I have a better idea.” 

She arranged the pieces and pulled a chair out, “Come sit.” When Ben obliged, she sat next to him and gave each of them a player piece and then put one across the table. “So, since John is late, we will have to use our skills as story-tellers to surmise what John might do.” 

“John is not a very complicated man. I feel like this is basic Game Theory.” Ben grinned, feeling his body sing and hoping that Rey couldn’t _actually_ hear his cells frantically shouting and running into each other. 

“That’s where you’re wrong. John _is_ complicated. He wants the government to pay for the lies, the years of dumping toxic waste into the valley and dismissing it, the cover ups. John wants justice, not revenge. He’s just really good at throwing axes.” 

“Hm. Yeah. I’m willing to take this angle if you are willing to accept that John is also bad at strategy games.” 

“Fair trade.” 

They slowly picked at the pizza and alternated between their own turns and meticulously plotting out John’s decisions, which every time boiled down to “pass”. The sun had already set, and they hadn’t gotten any work done all day. Eventually the pizza ran out, and Rey suggested they make another one, but in the time it took for Ben to walk over to the tiny kitchen and set the oven to preheat, when he came back Rey was fast asleep in her chair, moonlight trickling in from the window onto her face. 

He smiled at her sleeping frame, gingerly lifting her into his arms and carrying her over to the bed to lay her down. As he was gently sliding her legs under the covers, he felt a hand on his bicep. It was Rey, whining a bit in her sleep and tugging him towards her. He almost laughed, but the fear of waking her stopped him. She kept tugging, rolling over and pulling him down with her. He had to use his arms to brace himself from collapsing onto her entirely, so now he was awkwardly suspended above her while she wrapped her arms around his bicep, smiling contentedly. Realizing that there was no way around it, nor did he really want to find a way around it, Ben relinquished himself to the bed, sliding next to her like a glove and pulling the covers over both of them. He fell asleep almost instantly, certain that he’d never slept so comfortably anywhere in his entire life. 


End file.
